Toronto Argonauts general manager Jim Barker used the word “unbelievable.”

Winnipeg Blue Bombers president and CEO Garth Buchko said the league is now playing a “whole new ball game.”

Those were just some of the comments coming out on a banner day for the three-down loop after it announced a new five-year broadcast agreement with TSN and RDS. Simply put, it will provide financial stability for a league that had nothing of the sort as recently as 15 years ago.

The official financial figures weren’t released Thursday, but sources indicated the new deal, which begins in 2014, is worth between two and three times the current one — and closer to the latter. That would put its value in the neighbourhood of $200 million.

Subtract league expenses and divide by nine teams since Ottawa is joining the fold in 2014, and organizations will be getting more than double what they received over the course of the current TSN contract. Today teams get $2 million, and starting next year they will be pocketing around $4.3 million.

The impact will be massive in a league where some teams will make $500,000 one year and lose $500,000 the next.

“It’ll be significant,” Cohon said. “Teams that weren’t making money will now be making money, but there will be opportunity to recoup some historic losses. It’ll be an opportunity for them to invest in new facilities and invest in new things they want to do for the fans.”

The timing couldn’t be any better for Buchko and the Bombers, who have to begin paying back an $85 million loan for the new Investors Group Field, coincidentally enough, in 2014. The new broadcast deal helps ease some of the stress the organization might have been feeling about paying back the Manitoba government over the next 45 years.

“It’ll certainly help us to achieve our long-range business plan,” Buchko said. “It’ll certainly help us to invest greater dollars into football operations in the future, and it’ll certainly help us to make sure that we can be a sustainable business and franchise for a lot of years.

“… It shows how important broadcast television is to our league, not only to showcase our games but to generate additional revenue for each of us, including our football club.”

Every franchise will benefit in different ways. Hamilton and Toronto are believed to be the only two franchises that didn’t make money in 2011, and newfound income will help the Tiger-Cats and Argonauts in their southern Ontario marketing efforts. The financially stable Montreal Alouettes, Saskatchewan Roughriders and Edmonton Eskimos can enjoy some more spending money, while B.C. Lions and Argos owner David Braley can be rewarded for his relentless support of the league.

And hopefully the real stars of the show — the players — can be rewarded for putting their bodies on the line week in and week out. The CFL’s current collective bargaining agreement expires after this season, and the CFL Players’ Association will no doubt be looking for a nice little increase from this year’s $4.4 million salary cap.

“It’s a positive move,” Tiger-Cats centre Marwan Hage said. “Eventually everything will lead to better stuff, and it will all be prosperous for our league and therefore for our players. It’s a great move forward.”

It’s actually a giant leap. Barker remembers the “old days” of the mid-1990s, when you were worried if you were going to get your next paycheque.

“It was just one thing after another back in those days,” he said. “It’s been a complete turnaround probably this last five or six years. It’s been unbelievable.”

ENHANCED PRODUCTION FEATURES COMING

The fact TSN/RDS is forking over a lot of money to broadcast CFL games until 2018 means the cable channel is going to get some wicked access during the length of the deal.

Those details were being kept secret on Thursday when the new deal was announced, but fans can expect to go even deeper into the huddle. TSN will get more locker-room access, more exclusive meeting time with players and coaches, and have more microphones on the field.

“Those types of things, we’re working hand in hand with them to continually enhance not just the quality of the games, but the telling of the stories, the profiling of the players,” commissioner Mark Cohon said Thursday. “Those are the things we’re focused on.”

According to a source, one aspect of the new broadcast deal will require each team’s centre, who is at the heart of the action, to wear a microphone. Coaches won’t like that.

In addition, Cohon said the overhead camera that has been featured in only the Grey Cup will also be used for the CFL’s four playoff games. Even though the new deal doesn’t kick in until 2014, TSN will implement some of its new production features this season.

Cohon said TSN’s commitment to the three-down league is the reason why it has exclusive broadcast rights until 2018, shutting out Sportsnet and CBC.

“They’ve been a great partner when you think of what they’ve done for us — not just from the exclusive window they’ve had in the last six years, but even prior to that,” Cohon said.

“They really stepped up to the plate and said, ‘We’ve been a great partner. We love CFL football. We have a part of building it, and we want to take it to the next level.’ We agreed that they were the right partner to do that.”

CFL, TSN agree to multimillion-dollar TV deal

The CFL and TSN have come to terms on a new five-year multi-platform broadcast agreement that is reportedly worth more than $30 million per season.

That is more than double the value of the previous deal.

The contract begins next season and runs through the 2018 season. Each team will receive approximately $4 million per season over the course of the agreement, signifying the health of the CFL has never been greater than it is today.

Ratings have been strong since TSN became the sole television broadcaster of the three-down league in 2008, and the cable channel’s access will only increase under the new deal. One perk being discussed during negotiations was having each team’s centre wear a microphone during every game. It isn’t known if that will be part of the new contract.

As part of the agreement, TSN has secured the broadcast rights to all pre-season, regular-season, playoff and Grey Cup games, as well as draft and combine coverage.